The Power of Surrender

“…Not my will but thine be done” (Luke 22:42)

February 14^th marks the beginning of the spiritual season known as “Lent.”  During the 46 days of this season (40 days of Lent plus 6 Sundays in Lent), one of the spiritual tools that we as Christians are invited and encouraged to use is “surrender”, or (closely related to it) “fasting.”  It is the voluntary giving up of earthly things in order to focus more intentionally on spiritual things/things of God.  Jesus showed us the fullest example of this practice in the Garden of Gethsemane when he prayed “not my will but yours be done” in reference to his own upcoming suffering and death. 

Yet, both the Bible and Christian history are full of other examples of God’s people willingly surrendering their own wants and desires so that God’s will and plan could be accomplished through them.  One of these was the founder of Methodism John Wesley.  Listen to words of admonition he wrote to his Methodists in 1755:

"In so giving yourselves to the Lord...Let Him appoint you to your work. Christ has many services to be done; some are more easy and honorable, others more difficult and menial. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests; others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves, as when he requires us to feed and clothe ourselves. Indeed, there are some spiritual duties that are more pleasing than others; as to rejoice in the Lord, to be blessing and praising of God. These are the sweet works of a Christian. But then there are other works, wherein we cannot please Christ but by denying ourselves, as in bearing and forbearing, reproving men for their sins, withdrawing from their company; witnessing against their wickedness; confessing Christ and His name, when it will cost us shame and reproach; sailing against the wind, swimming against the tide, parting with our liberties and accommodations for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

     (--From Wesley's “Covenant Renewal Service", 1755)

Twenty-five years later, he re-wrote his very popular New Year’s Covenant Service and ended it with a prayer that has come the illustrate the power of surrender for many Christians even today.   

"I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

Exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

To thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

Let it be ratified in heaven. Amen."

            (--The “Covenant Prayer” from John Wesley's Covenant Service, 1780)

So, whether it’s giving up watching TV or social media time so you can spend more time reading your Bible, in prayer, or with your spouse and family, OR whether it's giving up money that you’d normally spend on coffee each day and contributing it to our “Change the World” Lenten collection for “Rise Against Hunger,” OR giving up dessert and replacing it with time spent in exercise at the gym, OR something else, my hope is that you will use Jesus’ simple prayer or one of Wesley’s to inspire you to find something unique about yourself that you can surrender to God.  You’ll find power in doing so!  Remember that God loves you and I do, too!

Online Monthly Newsletter is Here!

“...And the gospel must first be published to all nations...”_ 

(Mark 13:10, KJV)

For over 2000 years, Christians have sought to find effective ways to communicate the “good news” of the gospel with those around them.  In the earliest days this took the form of in-person, word of mouth communication to and with individuals and groups.  But even in these early days, there was always a need to communicate to those who were not directly present. That’s why early evangelists like Paul and Peter wrote letters to express their thoughts and feelings to Christians in churches and places far away -- the “Epistles” of our New Testament (books like Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 and 2 Peter) are all examples of this kind of communication.

Much later, Christians in the Middle Ages used stained glass windows in cathedrals to communicate Bible and church stories, ideas, and theology to multitudes who were illiterate.  With the Renaissance, however, came a resurgence of literacy, along with the invention of the printing press, allowing for the mass publication of papers, books, and tracts to share news of the gospel.  Along with the printing of scripture, churches soon also started printing news of what God was doing in their midst -- printed congregational announcements, if you will.  By the 20^th-century, these “announcement bulletins” morphed into what we today call church “newsletters” to let folks know what was going on in the life of a congregation. And now, nearly twenty years into the 21^st-century, many are experiencing the next stage in this story of gospel and church communication: electronic communication, including online and emailed e-newsletters. 

Most of you probably already know that starting with this issue, our church’s “FLAME” newsletter will only be printed and mailed once per month, and that during the interim of each month, we will increasingly do more communication electronically. 

We’re not doing this to leave anyone out – we know that we have a significant number of members who either are not online at all, or who still prefer to receive printed content from the church via snail mail.  So, we’ll still have print copies available and mailed out. However, we also recognize that the majority of people today have the capability of receiving information online and/or via email.  Therefore, we’ll be adding email addresses to our current e-distribution list, as well as encouraging you to sign up to receive the FLAME electronically (to do this, visit our church's website and click on the red "Sign Up for Email Updates" box at the bottom right of the homepage).

This change not only reflects how most of our culture now processes information, but allows us as a church to be better stewards of our resources: it be more efficient from a resources standpoint; more importantly, it will help us “get the word out” more quickly, as well as allow us to provide more information than before. For example, in addition to the current content, we’ll have new monthly church calendars, regular column articles from ministry areas that we’ve not had regular columns from before, and other new items.

And while we won’t be adding weekly e-updates at this time (we don’t want to junk up your email box!), do be on the lookout for occasional emails during the month when there is important information we want to communicate with you about church activities and/or opportunities.

We pray that this new monthly format with occasional emailed updates will help you stay better connected with the work of Christ here at LaGrange First UMC as we go about fulfilling our mission of being “Christians… SERVING in love, CARING with compassion, and SHARING with boldness.”

For questions, comments, or suggestions about this transition, contact our Administrative Assistant Dodie Patterson via email or call her at the church office. In the meantime, we pray that you will enjoy this new way to keep in touch with the work of God through our church!  And remember, God loves you and I do too!